Gourmet

Although fresh dark sweet cherries are available in June, we believe they're best eaten out of hand. This cobbler makes great use of frozen cherries. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Freshly ground pepper makes all the difference in this simple recipe.

If you're short on time, you can substitute bottled red curry paste (we recommend Mae Ploy brand) for homemade, but the flavor will not be as nuanced. There will be some curry paste left over after making the jungle curry and steamed catfish. Simply stir the remainder together with unsweetened coconut milk to give chicken, shrimp, or mussels a Thai spin. Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 40 min

This salad is wonderfully refreshing even without purslane, but if you can find the green at your produce market, it's worth using for the nice crunch it adds. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

If you prefer to present these halibut steaks with additional grill marks (as in the photo), you can grill the skin sides for about 1 minute each before grilling flesh.

My mother learned to cook this bread during the Depression, when nothing was wasted — especially overripe bananas. We clamored for this treat so often that she frequently bought extra bananas and let them get almost black. I've discovered that overripe bananas can be peeled, mashed, and frozen, then defrosted whenever I want to bake up this memory.

If you can get fresh shelled peas, cook them in a pan of boiling water until they are just tender, 3 to 5 minutes, then drain and toss them with the chives, zest, and pepper. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 40 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

We couldn't wait to get into our test kitchens to try Rosie’s baklava ice-cream cake. As inspired as the dessert was, it was also a big production, resulting in a giant cake with 2 layers of ice cream and 3 layers of baklava. With Rosie's permission, we downscaled the recipe and tweaked it a bit, for a dessert that’s still delicious but more manageable. When working with phyllo, be sure to have plenty of clear counter space and a chunk of uninterrupted time. Phyllo dries out in the blink of an eye, so it is imperative that you keep your stack of phyllo sheets well-covered and work only with 1 sheet at a time. Allow at least 20 minutes to chop the nuts by hand.

This cake, thought to have first appeared in the 1920s, has had such names as pineapple glacé and pineapple skillet cake.

With the addition of a citrus custard as a filling and a sprinkling of coconut over the frosting, this would be known as a Robert E. Lee cake.

For those who've found the consistency of okra unappealing, there are secrets to keeping it crisp and toothsome: Don't cut into the pod when trimming the stems and don't overcook it.

Hash browns are deceptively simple. Most people can turn out a so-so version. Loftier ambitions, however, will be rewarded by following this recipe precisely.